A comparative study of silver nanoparticles synthesized by arc discharge and femtosecond laser ablation in aqueous solution

Silver nanoparticles have been synthesized by arc discharge and femtosecond laser ablation in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) aqueous solution. Both methods are the simple, cost-effective and environment-friendly way to obtain the purity silver nanoparticles. In this study, the structure, composition, morphology, size and distribution, stability, production rate and sintering properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized by both methods were compared. The spherical or pseudo-spherical silver nanoparticles were synthesized by both methods, and the diameters were below 50 nm. The arc discharge-synthesized particle distribution varied with the breakdown voltage, and laser-synthesized particle size mainly depended on the laser energy. PVP solution could cap and stabilize the silver nanoparticles by Ag–O bond, while arc discharge and laser ablation resulted in some level of PVP degradation during processing. Sliver nanoparticle colloids synthesized by both methods had the high negative values of zeta potential and exhibited the good stability. The maximum production rates of the silver nanoparticles synthesized by arc discharge and femtosecond laser ablation were 6.0 and 3.0 mg/min, respectively. In addition, the sintering properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized by both methods were also discussed.